(updated 3-feb-10 14:40 )  

Top Two to Play Off for Cleveland Title  [Draw and Results]

Waters beats King. photo © 2010 Ham Biggar.

Alison Waters and Omneya Abdel Kawy, will face each other in the final of a WISPA event for the second time in two weeks. In the first encounter Alison won in five games, but we will have to wait until tomorrow night at the Cleveland Racquet Club to see if she can claim her second title of 2010.

Omneya was the first to book her place in the final with a win against fellow Egyptian Raneem El Weleily. Raneem had not started well in her previous two rounds, losing both first games before making a comeback to secure passage through. Today was a different story though as she raced in to a 6-2 advantage in game one. Everything about her play indicated that this might be a good day for the younger player as she was able to maintain her lead to the 11-8 finishing line.

The second game was a complete role reversal though as Omneya jumped out to an early lead, a lead she was able to hold onto until the end of the game. A combination of good stroke play from Omneya and errors from Raneem allowed the number two seed to come to even terms.
Raneem’s temperament looked a little questionable and she helped contribute to her own demise in the third, gifting a couple of strokes while losing the first seven rallies without return. She produced an attempt at a fight back when Omneya hit a few tins but Omneya kept her composure to end the game ahead. The fourth started competitively but the mountain was just a little too high for Raneem to climb on the day today. Her results in Greenwich moved her up to world number 18, and the result here this week will also help elevate her average.

Alison made Samantha Teran move from corner to corner in their semi final encounter. Although the Mexican didn’t ever seem to look tired, she did start making an uncharacteristic amount of errors, which we did not see in her victory against Madeline Perry the night before. After she won the first, Alison continued to dominate, displaying great balance and a controlled authority on the court. Samantha tried to get into the points but struggled to find a way to put Alison under any real pressure. Instead she tried to get more aggressive and increasingly likely to hit the tin, which she did for the last time at 10-7 in the third.

RESULTS:         PNG Cleveland Squash Open, Cleveland Racquet Club, Cleveland Ohio, USA

SEMIS:
[1] Alison Waters (ENG) bt [7] Samantha Teran (MEX) 11/5, 11/5, 11/7
[2] Omneya Abdel Kawy (EGY) bt Raneem El Weleily (EGY) 8/11, 11/6, 11/6, 11/4